Faith Makes Us Live: Surviving and Thriving in the Haitian Diaspora / Edition 1

by Margarita Mooney

Overview

Based on fieldwork in Haiti and in three cities of the Haitian diaspora—Miami, Montreal, and Paris—this study offers a vivid portrait of the power of faith for immigrants. Drawing on extensive interviews and including rich details of everyday life, Margarita Mooney explores the struggles and joys of Haitian Catholics in these three very different cities. She finds that religious narratives, especially those about transformation and redemption, provide real meaning and hope in what are often difficult conditions. However, Mooney also finds that successful assimilation into the larger society varies from country to country, having less to do with these private religious beliefs than on cooperation between religious and government leaders. In the United States, the Catholic Church is able to offer services and advocacy that help immigrants succeed, but it is not able to do the same in France or Canada. Presenting a powerful picture of traditional Catholic piety that overturns many assumptions about Vodou practice in Haitian Catholicism, this work also provides a groundbreaking comparative perspective on how immigrants' experiences and opportunities vary greatly across different nations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520260368
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	08/10/2009
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	302
Sales rank:	723,262
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Margarita A. Mooney is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Faculty Fellow of the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. “Faith Makes Us Live”

Chapter 2. Comparing Religion and Immigration Cross-Nationally

Chapter 3. Miami
“Jesus Came with Us on the Boat”

Chapter 4. Montreal
“Hold on Tight, Don't Let Go”

Chapter 5. Paris
“I Would Be Dead without the Church”

Chapter 6. What Lies behind the Mountain?

Appendix A. Methods

Appendix B. Ayiti Cheri: Notes on the Haitian Homeland

Notes

References

Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Offers a vivid portrait of the power of the Catholic faith for immigrants."—Carolina Arts & Sciences

"[An] Engaging ethnography."—Christianity Today/ Books & Culture

"Faith Makes Us Live is well worth reading."—Miami Herald

"Faith Makes Us Live has to be seen as making a strong contribution to the literature on the incorporation of immigrants."—American Journal of Sociology / Ajs

"I strongly recommend this theoretically interesting and empirically relevant book."—Oxford Journal

Editorial Reviews

I strongly recommend this theoretically interesting and empirically relevant book.

Oxford Journal

Faith Makes Us Live has to be seen as making a strong contribution to the literature on the incorporation of immigrants.

American Journal Of Sociology / AJS

I strongly recommend this theoretically interesting and empirically relevant book.

Sociology Of Religion

Faith Makes Us Live is well worth reading.

Miami Herald

Offers a vivid portrait of the power of the Catholic faith for immigrants.

Carolina Arts & Sciences

Rewarding for its anecdotal detail and the many human interest stories it contains.

Journal Amer Ethnic History - Philip Gleason

[An] Engaging ethnography.

Christianity Today/ Books & Culture

Overall, the book is clear, forcefully argued, and addresses its subject in a sophisticated yet accessible manner.

Teaching Sociology - Matthew Hedstrom

“Faith Makes Us Live is well worth reading.

Miami Herald